The destructive nature of sin and God’s faithful mercy
1 Kings 11:14-43 Viruses are small organisms usually in a protective shell. They carry genetic information, instructions as it were, to reproduce themselves but they need the equipment of a host’s cells to do so. They are like an intruder…
Lessons from Solomon’s failure and our only hope
1 Kings 11:1-13 I once went to a birthday party where I accidentally met an old homegroup member from the time I was a young adult. She was about ten years older than me, and I remember her commitment to…
How to live well with God’s generous gifts
1 Kings 10:1-29 Some years ago on holiday, I returned to a church that I had visited before. It drew a lot of young people who enjoyed the upbeat musical worship, which in the past was headed by a talented…
The two sides of Solomon’s reign and its challenge for us
1 Kings 9:1-28 There is a famous optical illusion by W.E. Hill entitled ‘My Wife and My Mother-in-Law’, which depicts a young woman and an old one in the same figure (the young woman’s jawline as she looks right is…
How to gain a true picture of God’s character
1 Kings 8:22-66 In the first few years after coming to faith, my dominant emotion was fear that if I did the wrong thing God would punish me. Fearful by nature, my perceptions were not helped by a church setting…
How to live in God’s rest
1 Kings 8:1-21 The film Finding Nemo recounts the adventures of a young clownfish who is fished out of the sea, ends up in a tank in a dentist’s office in Sydney and manages to escape. At the end of…
A comparison between the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple
Materials and dimensions The main difference between the tabernacle set up by Moses and Solomon’s temple is that the former was a mobile structure, the latter a permanent building. The tabernacle was a tent with a wooden frame covered by…
The difference God’s presence makes
1 Kings 7:1-51 Recently, I visited a beach just south of Christchurch and noticed a ridgeline overlooking the bay that narrowed, then terminated in a steep drop. The villas perched precariously on top stopped abruptly mid-way even though the powerlines…
Temple building: What it takes to know God’s presence
1 Kings 6:1-38 Why do we want God in our life? Why should having God’s presence matter to us? For some, it springs from the desire to have a sense of security or guidance in life, provision, help or blessing.…
- 1 Kings 1-11 (Solomon), Bible reading notes, Kings, Sabbath rest, temple and God's presence, Topical
Rest, temple and fellowship with God
Exod 31:12-17; Deut 12:10-11; Heb 3:7-19; 4:1-11 As Solomon prepares to build the temple, he connects temple building and rest (1 Kings 5:4), a link also made by David earlier (2 Sam 7:1) and mentioned even before Israel entered the…